diff --git a/rtgui/CMakeLists.txt b/rtgui/CMakeLists.txt
index 05afd9af5..629e3890f 100644
--- a/rtgui/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/rtgui/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ if((WIN32) AND NOT(UPPER_CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL "DEBUG"))
     set_target_properties(rth PROPERTIES LINK_FLAGS "-mwindows")
 endif()
 set_target_properties(rth PROPERTIES COMPILE_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS}" OUTPUT_NAME rawtherapee)
-set_target_properties(rth-cli PROPERTIES COMPILE_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS}" OUTPUT_NAME rawtherapee-cli)
+set_target_properties(rth-cli PROPERTIES COMPILE_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -DRAWTHERAPEE_CLI" OUTPUT_NAME rawtherapee-cli)
 
 # Add linked libraries dependencies to executables targets
 target_link_libraries(rth rtengine
diff --git a/rtgui/options.cc b/rtgui/options.cc
index 6f62652df..07b0f81ad 100644
--- a/rtgui/options.cc
+++ b/rtgui/options.cc
@@ -2229,10 +2229,13 @@ int Options::saveToFile (Glib::ustring fname)
     FILE *f = g_fopen (fname.c_str (), "wt");
 
     if (f == nullptr) {
-        if (options.rtSettings.verbose) {
-            printf ("Options::saveToFile / Error: unable to open file \"%s\" with write access!\n", fname.c_str());
-        }
-
+        std::cout << "Warning! Unable to save your preferences to: " << fname << std::endl;
+#ifndef RAWTHERAPEE_CLI
+        Glib::ustring msg_ = Glib::ustring::compose(M("MAIN_MSG_WRITEFAILED"), fname.c_str());
+        //writeFailed (getToplevelWindow (this), msg_);
+        Gtk::MessageDialog msgd (msg_, true, Gtk::MESSAGE_WARNING, Gtk::BUTTONS_CLOSE, true);
+        msgd.run ();
+#endif
         return 1;
     } else {
         fprintf (f, "%s", keyData.c_str ());